Venue

In 1290 Eleanor of Castile, the beloved wife of Edward I and mother of his 14 children, died at Harby in Nottinghamshire.

The grief-stricken king was driven to create the most elaborate series of funerary monuments to any queen of England. He ordered the building of 12 elegant crosses to mark each of the resting places of his wife’s funeral procession as it travelled from Lincoln to her burial place at Westminster Abbey, London. The best-preserved of these lies at the centre of the little village of Geddington.

Beautifully sited on the fringe of Dartmoor, Lydford boasts three defensive features. Near the centre is a 13th-century tower on a mound, built as a prison. It later became notorious for harsh punishments - 'the most annoyous, contagious and detestable place within this realm'. To the south is an earlier Norman earthwork castle: to the north, Saxon town defences.

The Bridestones has peculiar shaped rocks, heather moorland, ancient woodland, herb-rich meadows. Blakey Topping has superb all-round views.

This charming rustic mill is one of only four virtually complete corn mills in Cheshire. Take a guided tour of Nether Alderley Mill, and learn all about the process of milling and hear fascinating stories about the lives of the millers.